AOTA Capitol Day
AOTA Capitol Hill Day is an annual event in
Washington, DC where individuals come together to
advocate for the profession of occupational therapy. As
a second year occupational therapy student, I had the
honor and privilege to travel to Washington, DC on
October 1st to represent Chicago State University.
We are taught in our occupational therapy
programs the importance of advocating for our
profession, but as students I think we sometimes have
a difficult time understanding the real importance
since we may have never experienced the hardships
first hand and lack awareness. The field has faced
many challenges in the past, has challenges in the
present, and there will continue to be challenges in
the future.
OTs, OTAs, and students advocate for many
reasons throughout their career and there are different
levels of advocacy- whether it relates to themselves,
clients, or both. Changes to systems and policies of
occupational therapy services occur because people
advocate for them.
The Medicare outpatient therapy cap has been a
popular issue for the last 20 years that the field has
been advocating for. It was recently permanently
repealed because of the consistent efforts of the
field and thousands of letters and phone calls telling
Congress why occupational therapy is essential for
their clients.
AOTA Hill Day is an annual event that started
with a couple individuals. This year, there was a
record breaking number of attendees with over 500
occupational therapists, occupational therapy assistants,
and students. We strived to have all states represented
and this year and there were individuals from over 40
states- which is amazing! The occupational therapy
programs represented from Illinois were Chicago
State University and the University of Illinois at
Chicago. Everyone came from different backgrounds
and locations and it was empowering to be in a room
full of individuals who have one thing in common,
which is the love of occupational therapy! With 500
people wearing purple badges that say occupational
therapy, I feel like we really did make a presence on
the Hill that day.
The morning of AOTA Hill Day, we all headed
to Union Station for a briefing session. It was a great
Krista Ramirez, MOTS
experience to hear from the American Occupational
Therapy Political Action Committee and President
of AOTA, Amy Lamb. The three issues that AOTA
decided to focus on this year were Funding for IDEA,
Opioids legislation, and the Medicare Home Health
Flexibility Act.
Before going to Washington DC, I had to
complete an online training course that consisted of
educational videos and handouts to be well prepared
for my legislative meetings. AOTA strived to set up
2-3 meetings for everyone to attend. I was fortunate
to have 3 meetings and the first one I was by myself.
At first, the idea of traveling alone and having the
first meeting by myself was a little intimidating. I
was fortunate that AOTA set up a mentor/mentee
program to help first time Hill Day participants.
Before I arrived to Washington DC and during my
visit, I had the guidance of my mentor, Dr. Diana
Davis from West Virginia University. She really made
it such a memorable and easy going experience for
me!
It was interesting to learn that each meeting
with the legislators is less than 30 minutes. They are
busy people and you have to get the point across in
a short amount of time by using talking points. This
covers the introduction, an elevator speech about OT,
highlighting two or three critical issues, asking for the
member’s position on the issue, and thanking them
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